Monday, March 25, 2013

ST. LOUIS REGIONAL PROJECTS-YOU DIDN'T SEE!:

Hello there! So sorry for the gap in posting, but I had a crazy week-end, well week, actually. My friend Jamie Hurley and I made plans to attend the SU! Regional in St. Louis this past week-end. I had some projects lined up to share with you, when I got a call on Monday from Andrea at the Home office asking if I would be interested in being a Workshop Wow presenter! #%*@ NO! is what I was thinking, but 'Sure, I'd love to' is what came out. I was excited and horrified at the same time! For about 2 days, I felt like I had just gotten off of the Tilt-A-Whirl, but when I had my projects figured out, I was really excited to share them. I was more than a little freaked out though every time I thought about being on stage in front of 500 demonstrators with a camera over my shoulder! So I went out and got my nails done, bought a new outfit (which was an agonizing process!), new jewelry and boots, new bra, socks and underwear-no time to do laundry, and paid a rush alteration fee to have my pants shortened. When I got home from my exhausting shopping trip, I had planned on making one more project. But I came home to my poor hubby on the couch with the flu with our precious little 15 month old grandbaby terrorizing him. So I decided to tag off and let him go to bed, and figured 3 projects was going to have to do.

The next morning I woke up to the sound of our daughter hurling her little guts out, on her birthday of all days! I gotta say, I was glad to be getting out of there! I picked up Jamie and we were on our way. About an hour into the drive, I started feeling like I was back on the Tilt-A-Whirl again, but figured it was just nerves and that I hadn't eaten anything. Every time I laughed, I felt like I was going to puke, and Jamie is one funny gal, so I was feeling really crappy! We arrived in St. Louis with no problems, thanks to her wonderful navigating skills and got settled into our room. We were really looking forward to a nice peaceful dinner, maybe meeting up with some fellow stampers and breaking open a bottle of Harvest Apple wine that Jamie brought along. Welp, we got to the restaurant and when I smelled the wings from the next table over, I knew I was in trouble. But I thought, maybe if I eat something, it will help. It didn't. After 3 attempts to eat, I thought I'd better find out where the bathroom was. I got there just in time!

So Jamie, being the trooper she is, walked several blocks to the drug store to get me some Pepto, crackers and 7-Up. I was hoping I could get back to the room without having to hurl in the bushes or over a trashcan along the streets of downtown St. Loius. Even though I had to walk through a fog of sewer stench, as a crew of guys were working in the street, I made it back to the room without incident. Again, I was able to get to the bathroom in time! The Pepto was not up to the task and I was back in the bathroom-can you say Mt. St. Helen's? I went ahead and got a wake-up call for 5am, which is enough to make anyone sick, and thought maybe I'd be feeling better in the morning. Nope!

Again, Jamie came to the rescue and took my projects over to the Convention Center for me. She was even considering going on stage for me to show my projects! She got to meet Andrea Withers, Carrie Cudney and Bonnie Thurber! How exciting!!! Jamie filled me in on everything I missed, including a Comic Book Convention going on at the same time. Apparently I missed out on alot! I was happy that I got to meet Minders as we were leaving, but I was not looking my best-still in my jammies...and my boots...that's how I drove home! I was relieved that the Zombie Apocolypse slayers didn't see me on the street, because I looked like the Night of the Living Dead! Even though I spent the majority of my time on bathroom floors and in my hotel bed, I felt extremely blessed and honored to be asked to be a presenter. I hope that I will be offered the opportunity again sometime, I think??? Okay, on to the projects...

I came up with some fun little party bags made out of lunch sacks. Super cheap and you can make them for any occasion you need! This sweet owl bag would be a perfect favor bag to hold all kinds of treats for a little girl's birthday party. You start with a flat lunch sack. Pick the side that has a nice square bottom-for me, it was the side with the seam. It's going to be covered up with paper so it doesn't matter if there's a seam. Next, I folded the top down 3" and scored it with my bone folder. From the fold line, I measured up 1 1/2" and marked it. Then I measured 1 1/2" from the side of the bag and marked it. Draw a diagonal line, and cut the top layer only-this will give you one of the ears. Repeat on the other side for the other ear. Next, I cut a piece of Comfort Cafe DSP at 4 1/2" x 5 1/4". I rounded the bottom corners with the 3/4" Circle Punch-put the paper into the TOP of the punch to achieve this. Center the DSP on the flap of the lunch bag, turn it over and trace around the ears. I had to trim the DSP a little more, but you get pretty close. Attach the DSP with SNAIL. Next, I cut a piece of Baja Breeze Cardstock at 5 1/4" x 4" and ran it through the Big Shot with the Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder, and adhered it to the sack with SNAIL. Then I cut a piece of Patio Party DSP at 5 1/4" x 3", rounded the bottom corners, and ahdered it with SNAIL. I then used the Ovals Framelits to add 3 rows of feathers to her front, and added a strip of Daffodil Delight Stitched Ribbon over the top. I used the heart from the Hearts Collection Framelits to make the wings. I cut them out of Patio Party also and popped them up with Dimensionals onto the Baja Breeze.

I cut out the eyes using the Ovals Framelits. I used the smallest oval in Whisper White and the next size up in Pink Pirouette. I then layed the oval template from the Occasions Paper-Piercing Pack over the Pirouette oval and pierced the paper using the 2 smallest ovals. Next, I used the Primrose Petals Embroidery Floss and Needle from the Sweet Threads Simply Sent Kit, and also used it to tread the Neutrals Buttons for her eyes. I think that kit is so adorable-I can't wait to make some of the fun cross-stitched cards. Each eye took about 10 minutes to stitch, but I found it really relaxing for some reason. There's fewer holes in the inside oval, so you'll have to double dip on some of the inside holes making a V. They don't have to be perfect-it gives it a sense of whimsy! I used Dimensionals on both layers for the eyes. I used the Petite Pennant Punch in Pumpkin Pie for the beak, and used a Pumpkin Pie Marker to trace around the smaller triangle for faux stitching.

I made a sweet little pocket using the Oval Framelits again in Daffodil Delight and Baja Breeze. I SNAILED them together and used the Occasions template again for the stitching. I adhered some Sticky Strip to the back of the Chocolate Chip Scallop Dots Ribbon and folded it over the pocket. I added some Wild Wasabi Stitched Ribbon stems and Brights and Subtles Buttons. I attached them with Glue Dots.

I realize not everyone might want to get out their sewing kit, so here's a way you could simplify things a bit:

The eyes look just as cute just using just the Paper-Piercing Template...

And instead of the elaborate pocket, you could opt for a cute little button instead using the Soda Pop Tops. I ran a big one through the Big Shot using the platform with 1 Tab. I used the Pennant Parade set for the sentiment.

I wanted to make something to coordinate with the bag for on stage, so I recycled one of our button containers. I dressed it up with cardstock, buttons, stitching and ribbon and filled it with M & M's in the same colors. But you could just fill the lunch sacks with various treats and trinkets if you made them for an event.

This project was the most elaborate. I made a couple other designs that weren't quite as involved:

This is the ensemble that I was going to demonstrate on stage-much simpler! Fold the top down 3" and score. The top DSP is 5 1/4" x 3" and the bottom is 5 1/4" x 7". The DSP is from Floral District. I rounded the corners and attached to the sack with SNAIL. I wrapped some Tangerine Tango and Daffodil Delight Ribbon just around the top flap and adhered it-saved on ribbon!

I punched some Lucky Limeade leaves out with the Bird Builder Punch and attached them with Glue Dots. I made a Daffodil Delight flower to sit on top of it-punched out 3 scallops using the 1 1/4" Scallop Punch, stacked them with SNAIL and scrunched them up. I added a Tangerine Tango bow with a Brights Button to the center attached with Glue Dots. Next, I added a trio of tags and wrapped them around the bow using Whisper White Baker's Twine. For the tags, I used the Lots of Tags SIzzlet Die in Whisper White, Daffodil Delight and Crumb Cake. For the top tag, I stamped the sentiment in Tangerine Tango ink and used the Family Reunion set. I added a sweet little flower using the Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack and a Brights Brad. For the Daffodil tag, I added a leaf with Glue Dots and for the Crumb Cake tag, I punched out a trio of flowers. To get them spaced evenly, I punched out 3 flowers from a sticky note and centered them on the tag. Then just line the punch up over the sticky note flowers, and they'll be perfect!

I made a matching gift card easel making a tent out of Crumb Cake Cardstock measuring 8 1/2" x 4 1/2". Score at 3 1/2" and at 5". Sticky Strip the top together and decorate as shown.

This would make a great gift for Mother's day! And onto my final project.....

Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of the bag for you. Andrea took it to the home office-I'm hoping she'll post it on the SU! Facebook Page-be sure to check there! I used the Limited Offer Sent With Love DSP for this project, and the fun new Designer Typeset Photopolymer set. I thought this would be the perfect thing to send to a college student. You could make several bags filled with goodies for him to share with his roommates-he'll be the hit of the dorm!

He'll need plenty of quarters for laundry...

And of course, plenty of munchies! It might not be a bad idea to have his name on his stuff-I remember those days! Again, sorry I don't have a picture of the bag. If I can find it, I'll post a link.
I hope you enjoyed my projects. I wish I could have gone into a little more detail with this last group, but I'm really tired-and you probably are too, if you're still with me! Oh, I wanted to share a couple more things with you before I go...

This is the sweet thank you card I got from SU! made with MDS. They gave me a gift certificate even though I wasn't able to fullfill my end of the deal. I truly work for a great company!

And this is a sweet little gift bag that Jamie made for me filled with my fave Junior Mints! The good Lord blessed me with a wonderful friend and opened my eyes to how important that is! Thank you so much for stopping by today. Make sure to come back tomorrow...for a MUCH shorter post...I need a nap...

Hugs to you Laura! I really loved your Owl Bag & Lil' Treat Container! I've been following you since you won the Artisan Award a couple of years ago when I was at my first SU! Convention! Thanks for being inspiring to us blog stalkers!